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Something unusual and adorable is happening at LHS. As of right now there are two different couples – the Cleavingers and the Braytons – who have two things in common: they are all teachers, and they are expecting a baby!

“Before getting married, Mr. Brayton and I talked about trying to start a family around our second year of marriage,” English teacher Alison Brayton said. “But, it took a while and it wasn’t until right after our third wedding anniversary that we found out we were pregnant.”

Mrs. Brayton and husband Nathaniel Brayton are both English teachers.

Drew Cleavinger teaches Floral Design, Professional Communication, and Dual Credit Speech in addition to coaching softball and volleyball, while her husband Tyler “TJ” Cleavinger teaches World Geography and Health, and is an assistant coach for football and track. As of right now, Mrs. Cleavinger is about 28 weeks pregnant and her due date is in October, while the Brayton’s baby is due in March. Since Mrs. Cleavinger is further along in her pregnancy, she has revealed that she is having a girl and already has a name picked out – Carter Jean, or “CJ” for short.

“We’ve been trying to have a baby for about four years,” Mrs. Cleavinger said. “I think I’m most excited about seeing my husband interact with her because he’s good with kids. What I’m nervous about is I don’t want to mess her up, and to just make sure that I raise a good kid and good human being.”

Although the Braytons don’t know the gender of their baby yet, they have still been planning ahead.

“We for sure have the name picked out if it is a girl,” Mr. Brayton said. “We have some ideas if it is a boy, but, we are not revealing anything yet!”

The two couples have both had a slightly different approach when it comes to preparing for the future.

Mrs. Brayton hopes to have a gender reveal party later on in her pregnancy, and hopes to start getting their home ready for new addition to their family.

“I think once we get a little further into the school year, hopefully around October, we can start setting up the nursery and purchasing everything,” Mrs. Brayton said. “I want to take some classes, or at the very least read What to Expect the First Year, the sequel to the novel and movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

Mr. Brayton has done some training of his own.

“Right now, I am practicing all the new skills I will need, like changing diapers on our cat,” he said. “However, she doesn’t really like it, so it makes it hard to learn. But really, we have been trying to prepare mentally because it will be a huge change in our lives.”

Mrs. Cleavinger, however, says she has not been interested in taking classes, because after being around many pregnancies, she believes she is prepared to care for her baby on her own accord.

“We’ve been talking about using Gerber Life, which is an insurance program,” Mrs. Cleavinger said. “So once she gets to the college level, she can cash out the life insurance and have a substantial amount for a tuition fund.”

Nevertheless, both of their families were extremely excited and even shocked when they found out.

“When were all at breakfast, we gave my mother-in-law a card for Mother’s Day that had the picture of my sonogram on it,” Mrs. Cleavinger said. “She started screaming and crying in front of everybody.”

The couples are both eager and anxious for their little ones to arrive soon.

“In college, Mr. Brayton and I would watch the show The OC with our friends and roommates, and there was one quote that stuck out to us, ‘Confidence, Cohen’,” Mrs. Brayton said. “To us, this meant be yourself; be genuine to who you are without having doubts or feeling too self-conscious. I feel as though I’ve always remained true to who I was, but I was always a bit shy. That’s something I don’t want my child to be. I want him or her to take more after his/her father in that regard.”